The immense popularity of the 2014 World Cup has made the U.S. national team a hot topic, and the future of a team that has made two consecutive World Cup knockout-round appearances now makes for year-round discussion and debate. Manager Jurgen Klinsmann understands that he must reconfigure the U.S. men's national team to move past the round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup, and is in the process of making decisions that will steer the club through this next World Cup cycle.
These decisions involve a number of MLS players, and as the league nears the end of its postseason, it's a good time to look at which domestic prospects can make an impact on the national team in 2015 and beyond. Soccer Insider Adrian Melville and FC MLS analyst Jason Davis discuss that and other topics, including Jurgen Klinsmann's recent lack of MLS call-ups, positions ripe for up-and-comers to fill, uncapped MLS players who deserve a shot with the senior team and a comparison of MLS versus Euro-based prospects in the U.S. pipeline.
Adrian Melville: The U.S. men's national team is finishing out the year, and at this point it's hard for me to decipher whether there is positive or negative momentum for the team heading into 2015. It seems like the program is uncovering plenty of young American prospects who could one day become important to the U.S. team, but at the same time Klinsmann has recently acknowledged that the recent form of his most reliable U.S. players is "a bit of a concern."
One of the things that stood out for me on the latest U.S. roster is the number of MLS prospects -- or lack thereof -- in the current group. I understand that the location of the upcoming friendlies (London and Dublin) favors international players, but overall just three of the 10 MLS players on the U.S. roster are 25 years or younger (D.C. goalkeeper Bill Hamid, Chicago goalkeeper Sean Johnson and Seattle defender DeAndre Yedlin). Do you see this as a simple coincidence, or a long-term issue regarding MLS players and their U.S. chances?
Jason Davis: I'd like to say "yes," that I do see it as an issue, but that presumes I know what Klinsmann is trying to accomplish with these rosters. I'm a little confused by the makeup of his teams to close the year, even if the mentor-student dynamic at more than a few positions has some merit. For me, these games -- with stakes about as low as you can get -- should be about reaching even further into the available player pool in a bid to identify potential contributors when the games do start to matter.
Klinsmann has created an environment where even as he taps young players -- such as Stanford forward Jordan Morris and winger Miguel Ibarra from Minnesota of the NASL -- the provenance of those players leaves us scratching our heads. Does he really see Morris and Ibarra (and 1860 Munich forward Bobby Wood, for that matter) as future first-team players? Or is he just doing that uniquely Klinsmann thing and sending messages through his selections? If that's the case, it explains why we can't seem to lock down the direction of the team as 2014 comes to a close.
Melville: I completely agree with your point about Morris and Ibarra. On one hand, there is some logic that gives Klinsmann the benefit of the doubt on these particular selections. Ibarra is a goal scorer in the NASL, and Morris' Stanford coach Jeremy Gunn told me before the college season that Morris "has the pace and power that will immediately catch a coach's eye." On the other hand, it appears that Klinsmann also wants to set an example for players of various soccer backgrounds, and with the MLS schedule making certain players unavailable, it is conceivable that there would be an opening for these players to prove themselves.
I don't see the Morris and Ibarra inclusions truly challenging the national team attacking prospects playing in MLS. L.A. Galaxy forward Gyasi Zardes is a top domestic prospect for Klinsmann to consider, and his jump from four goals in 2013 to 16 goals this season has a lot to do with him being smarter in the penalty area and understanding more ways to separate from opposing defenders in congested spaces. Meanwhile, 23-year-old Chicago forward Harry Shipp created chances at the same rate as New England forward (and MVP candidate) Lee Nguyen this season, and Shipp showed in his rookie year that he is technical enough to quickly move the ball in central positions while also being fast enough to run at defenders from wide positions. Are there any other uncapped U.S. prospects in MLS (attacking or defensive) whom Klinsmann needs to start taking a closer look at?
Davis: Zardes and Shipp are the obvious names on the attacking end. I suppose I could argue that Shipp isn't ready, but then we have Morris on the team who has yet to play a single minute as a professional. Klinsmann is making it difficult to know what matters and what doesn't when it comes to identifying young players for the pool. If we're just throwing out names without regard for credentials, Real Salt Lake midfielder Luis Gil, D.C. midfielder Luis Silva and San Jose forward Tommy Thompson are players with bright futures whom I think Klinsmann should bring in. Gil is especially intriguing, and has gotten looks before, though the reduction in playing time he suffered this season with RSL makes his national team future more difficult to predict.
Defensively, I'm stumped by the lack of attention on Matt Hedges. The FC Dallas defender has been a model of consistency in the past three years, and while he doesn't get the accolades of guys like Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler, he's certainly a top-echelon MLS defender. Considering that Klinsmann seems intent on playing Jermaine Jones at centerback -- clearly a bid to extend his usefulness -- there's no reason not to give the 24-year-old a chance. At the very least, Hedges could provide depth at the position moving into a busy couple of years for the national team.
Melville: Hedges is one of the best MLS defenders at breaking up plays and anticipating forward movements. Statistically he was better than both Besler and Gonzalez this season, and I wonder if he gets overlooked because Dallas does not have the positive defensive reputation of teams like Sporting KC and the Galaxy.
As far as uncapped guys deserving a senior team look, I'd like to see what Colorado's Dillon Powers can do in the U.S. midfield, especially while Klinsmann decides the best position for Michael Bradley. Powers plays a box-to-box style that extends to the wide areas of midfield, and, despite playing on an offensively challenged Colorado team, this season Powers always kept his head up and looked to get forward while taking care of his defensive responsibilities.
Would Hedges be the uncapped MLS player most deserving of a U.S. call-up in your mind?
Davis: "Most deserving" is an interesting concept, because it ignores the number of players already in the player pool at that position. Plenty of MLS names miss out on the national team because there's already a handful of players in front of them. I'd argue that Zardes is ahead of Hedges in terms of most deserving, regardless of that issue. A name I failed to mention but should have is Philadelphia defender Amobi Okugo, another guy very much in the "deserving" category. Quick, smart, capable of playing multiple positions, he seems like exactly the type of player Klinsmann loves, and yet he hasn't gotten a call-up.
Despite Klinsmann sort of settling on Atlas defender Edgar Castillo at left back and tapping Tijuana defender Greg Garza for this roster (for good reason), I'd still like to see Colorado defender Chris Klute get a chance at the position. True left-footed defenders are rare enough that there's never any harm in working toward more depth at that spot. Klute didn't have a great year for Colorado, in part because of injury, but he does have the sort of speed and crossing ability that Klinsmann values in his fullbacks. In terms of the midfield, both D.C.'s Perry Kitchen and Columbus' Wil Trapp deserve call-ups, but they also happen to play a very crowded position.
Melville: Those are all good picks. Klute in particular recorded almost half of his touches in the attacking half this season, and that presence, along with his crossing ability, could bring an added dimension to the U.S. team. One other uncapped striker name I would throw out there is 24-year-old Ethan Finlay, who does a great job of separating from defenders when his midfielders have the ball, and showed enough technical skill up front to score 11 goals for Columbus this season.
You mentioned that some of these MLS prospects are struggling to make their mark in the U.S. player pool because there are other players ahead of them. Some of these cases seem to be Euro-based prospects getting the benefit of the doubt, and given the relative struggles that U.S. players have had in Europe throughout the 2014-15 season, I'm curious how you would compare the MLS and Euro-based U.S. prospects right now. Which group has the best player? Which group has more players who could help the U.S. in this World Cup cycle?
Davis: I prefer to judge players on a case-by-case basis, but because MLS players are on the whole getting more first-team minutes than their European-based counterparts, there does seem to be room for a few blanket statements. The names we've mentioned -- Zardes, Hedges, Kitchen, Powers, Trapp, Finlay and even Gil -- are seeing the field much more often at the senior level than most of the Euro-based players Klinsmann seems enamored with. Wood is in purgatory at 1860 Munich, for example, but still gets a call from the national team boss. It's open to question whether a player of similar ability playing in the U.S. would get the same consideration.
As for the best player, this is where some of the murkiness of Klinsmann's choices comes into play. Is Julian Green still a prospect, even though he went to the World Cup and scored a goal? Because it would be a cop-out to pick him, even if the answer is "yes," I'll put the question aside. But Green's status in this discussion, given the limited first-team time he's gotten at Hamburg on loan, only crystallizes how difficult it is to delineate groups in Klinsmann's setup. MLS versus Euro-based is obvious, but prospect versus full part of the team? Much more difficult. If the line is at "uncapped," that makes things easier.
If choosing the best prospect from the uncapped contingent, I'll stay in MLS and go with Trapp. The same goes for the group with the most players who can help over the next cycle -- I think that's MLS.
Melville: That's true. This debate ultimately comes down to whether it is more beneficial to play regular minutes in MLS or train at a high level with little to no game experience in Europe. Like you, I would give the slight advantage toward the MLS prospects because they earn regular first-team minutes at an impressionable age in their respective careers.
At the same time, that advantage is not without its limits. It is indisputable that future difference-making players for the U.S. team must be able to succeed at the European level (whether they play in MLS or not), and so the Euro-based players have the advantage of knowing what they need to improve in order to compete at the highest level. However, because those prospects are currently struggling to find their footing in Europe, the MLS players should be considered more viable at the moment. And as far as picking the best uncapped prospect, I'd have to go with Zardes.